Last night I had my instructor to my school for a small seminar. At the end of the night we were promoting some of my students when my instructor turns to me and puts the third and fourth stripes on my belt. He then goes on to tell everyone I will be testing for my black belt in February.

It seems unreal that it's even possible for this to happen. It's been almost 9 years since I removed my black belt from my waist (Shotokan, Aiki-Jujitsu, and Chuan Fa) and decided I would not wear them again until I had earned it in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. I'm almost at that goal. My next goal will be to work on growing my school, which is far easier to do as a BJJ Black Belt than a Brown Belt. Now to develop a 3 to 5 step plan on how to do this.

Sweet! Congrats on the 4 stripes, it's right around the corner now.

Well Done, OSU!!!!

congrats ps1

Congratulations on the big step ps1! That's a pair of big steps and the biggest one still to come. Good luck on your planning and preparation for your next step as well as growing your school.

Congrats my jiu jitsu brother. Just train hard and have confidense in you skill set you'll do fine.

Congrats on your 4th stripe...way to go!!

Congrats, ps1!

That's great. Good luck with your school.

Way to go, congrats. I was just thinking about rank yesterday at BJJ class. There is very little subjectivity in BJJ ranks. You prove every-time you roll where you stand. While a purple belt in one school may be a two stripe white in another, usually there is no doubt they are more skilled than lower ranks within their school. Rank differences stand out like a sore thumb where I train and it is truly inspiring to see my instructor at work, who is every bit his belt grade.